The main aim of the MOBI-kids project is to assess potential carcinogenic effects of childhood and adolescent exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF) from mobile phones on the central nervous system, in particular brain tumours.

Multi-centre case-control study on the association between brain tumor risk and exposure to RF and ELF from mobile phones. The collaborating countries are The Netherlands, Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Spain, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. All participating countries will follow a common core protocol. In brief:

• Cases: all incident primary (malignant and benign) brain tumor cases.
• Controls (2 per case): 1 hospitalised for (ICD10 codes) appendicitis (A52) and 1 for minor surgery, e.g. inguinal (K40) or abdominal (K45) hernias, or benign urological conditions, e.g. hydrocele (N43).
• Data collection (in the period 2010-2012): personal interviews with cases and controls or a proxy if needed to assess their personal historical mobile phone use and potential confounding factors, e.g. age, sex, residential history, and parental exposures.

Various validation and uncertainty analyses will also be performed, e.g. with respect to tumour diagnosis and localisation, and exposure measures.

In adults, research suggests a possible increased risk of brain tumors with long-term use of mobile phones. The rapid increase of mobile phone use, also in children and adolescents at lower ages raises health concerns, in particular because: (a) their developing neurological system may be more sensitive to RF effects; (b) the spatial distribution of RF energy absorption in their brain may differ; and (c) they are likely to have a greater lifetime cumulative exposure to RF from mobile phones than those starting use later in life.

• Pooled cohort study on health effects of exposure to electromagnetic fields
• COSMOS